Liriomyza valladaresae, Carvalho-Filho, Fernando Da Silva, Almeida, Flávio Roberto De Albuquerque & Esposito, Maria Cristina, 2016

Carvalho-Filho, Fernando Da Silva, Almeida, Flávio Roberto De Albuquerque & Esposito, Maria Cristina, 2016, Description of a nomen nudum species of Liriomyza Mik and the first record of Liriomyza blechi Spencer from Brazil (Insecta: Diptera: Agromyzidae), Zootaxa 4088 (3), pp. 445-450 : 446-447

Liriomyza valladaresae , sp. nov.

( Figs. 1–13 )

Liriomyza flagellae Spencer 1990: 67 , fig. 236 (nomen nudum); Martinez & Étienne 2002: 37 (nomen nudum).

Description. MALE. Wing length 2.6–3.0 mm. FEMALE. Wing length 3.2 mm in female.

Head. Fronto-orbital with 4 setae, anterior seta inclinate, second anterior slightly less so, posterior two reclinate; ocellar and postocellar setae divergent; inner vertical setae convergent; outer vertical about half the length of the internal; vibrissa strong and short; first flagellomere rounded ( Fig. 1 ), with slight apical pubescence; arista 0.40 mm, with short but dense microtrichia; gena short ( Fig. 1 ) with height at midpoint 0.22 times maximum eye height. Eye bare.

Thorax. Chaetotaxy: acrostichal setae in about 4 irregular rows, prescutellar acrostichal setae absent; dorsocentrals 1+3, supra-alars 1+2, strong postpronotal 1, postalar 1, notopleurals 2; anepisternum with 1 strong seta on posterior margin at midpoint with a few extra setulae; katepisternum with 1 strong seta on posterodorsal corner. Fore and mid tibiae without lateral setae. Wing: M1+2 ending at wing tip; costa extending to M1+2 ( Fig. 3 ).

Color. Gena, parafacilia, fronto-orbital plate, frontal-vitta, antenna, palpus and mouth parts pale orange. Vertical setae on yellow ground. Ocellar triangle black. Occiput black. Clypeus black. Mesonotum almost completely dark shining, except for narrow yellow margin posteriorly ( Fig. 2 ). Scutellum completely yellow ( Fig. 2 ) sometimes with small black spots laterally in the proximal half. Pleuron yellow except basal portion of katepisternum and posterior margin of meron brownish ( Fig. 1 ). Calypter light brown, margin and fringe also brown. Halter yellow. Legs completely yellow, except basal one fifth of hind tibia brownish ( Fig. 1 ). Tergite 1 yellow; tergites 2 to 5 of male predominately dark brown with posterolateral margin yellow; tergites 2 to 4 of female pale brown and tergites 5 and 6 yellow with a median brown spot on the posterior margin. Sternites black. Oviscape glossy black.

Male genitalia. Epandrium yellow with setulae restricted to anteroventral corner, without spine ( Fig. 6 ). Cercus higher than long ( Fig. 6 ). Surstylus small, rounded, with three long setae distally, without spine ( Fig. 5 ). Distiphallus in form of two long and sinuous tubules ( Figs. 4, 6 ). Ejaculatory apodeme club-like, asymmetrical with blade more expanded on one side ( Fig. 6 ).

Puparium. Older puparium black, barrel-shaped, tapering anteriorly, slightly dorsoventrally flattened with constrictions at the segmental borders ( Fig. 7 ). Intersegmental spines disposed in many irregular rows, close together and predominantly single pointed. Anterior spiracle with two main divergent branches ( Fig. 8 ). Posterior spiracle claw-like, curving toward anal segment, with three openings laterally. Posterior spiracles placed in a rounded protuberance, curved anteriorly ( Figs. 7, 10 ).

Host plants. Alternanthera tenella and Amaranthus viridis (Amaranthaceae) . Both of these host plants are invasive species.

Etymology. This new species is named in honor of Graciela Rosa Valladares, who first found this species, and in recognition of his significant contributions to the knowledge of the Agromyzidae of South America.

Distribution. Brazil (Pará), Argentina.

Type material. Holotype male labelled as follow: “Belém-Pará-Brasil/Jardim de residência [= house garden]/ 01°25.51’03”S 48°27.11’64”W/ 23.IV.2014/ F. S. Carvalho-Filho”, “Planta hospedeira: [= host plant]/ Alternanthera tenella / Amaranthaceae ”. Paratypes: 2 males and 1 female labeled same as holotype and 1 male labeled as follow: “Belém-Pará-Brasil/Jardim de residência [= house garden]/ 01°25.51’03”S48°27.11’64”W/ 30.VII.2015/ F. S. Carvalho-Filho”, “Planta hospedeira: [= host plant]/ Amaranthus viridis / Amaranthaceae ”

Remarks. This new species differs from all other Liriomyza by the distinctive shape of the phallus, as previously mentioned by Spencer (1990). The species L. mystica Boucher & Nishida, L. prompta Boucher & Nishida, L. commelinae (Frost) and L. robustae Spencer also have a phallus composed by two elongated tubules (see figures 12, 13, 32, 33 in Boucher & Nishida (2014) and figures 1293, 1295, 1296 in Spencer (1990)). However, in these species the tubules are shorter and straight, not conspicuously long and sinuous as in L. valladaresae sp. nov. In addition, the surstylus is absent in L. mystica and L. prompta .

Biology. The larva produces a white, tightly coiled linear upper surface mine on the distal portion of the leaf. Frass is deposited in strings along the mine ( Figs. 11, 12, 13 ). Pupation takes place on the ground.

This is the first record of a species of Liriomyza mining leaves of Alternanthera . Other genera with species that attack Alternanthera are Ophiomyia Bražnikov and Pseudonapomyza Hendel (Benavent-Corai et al. 2005) . Five species of Liriomyza ( L. bryoniae (Kaltenbach) , L. huidobrensis (Blanchard) , L. sativae Blanchard, L. strigata (Meigen), L. trifolii (Burgess)) have been found attacking Amaranthus (Spencer 1990, Benavent-Corai et al. 2005). The other species of agromyzid mining leaves of Amaranthus are the following: Amauromyza (Cephalomyza) abnormalis (Malloch) , Haplopeodes minutus (Frost) , Chromatomyia horticola (Goureau) , and Melanagromyza consueta Spencer (Benavent-Corai et al. 2005) .

Parasitoids. One species of Braconidae and one species of Eulophidae (probably Chrysocharis Förster ) were found pupating inside the host puparium.

Figures

FIGURES 1 – 6. Liriomyza valladaresae sp. nov., male adult and genitalia. 1. Habitus, lateral view; 2. Head and thorax, dorsal view; 3. Wing; 4. Phallus, lateral view; 5. Genitalia, ventral view; 6. Genitalia, lateral view. Scale = 500 µm in figs 1 – 3, = 20 µm in figs 4 – 6. Abbreviations: ce = cercus, ea = ejaculatory apodeme, ep = epandrium, hy = hypandrium, ph = phallus, phd = phallapodeme, st = surstylus.

FIGURES 7 – 13. Liriomyza valladaresae sp. nov. 7. Entire puparium, lateral view. Scale bar = 300 µm; 8. Anterior spiracle of puparium, lateral view. Scale bar = 20 µm; 9. Rows of intersegmental spines of puparium, lateral view. Scale bar = 20 µm; 10. Posterior spiracle of puparium, lateral view. Scale bar = 20 µm; 11. Leaf of Amaranthus viridis with mine, upper surface. Scale bar = 2 mm; 12. Leaf of Alternanthera tenella with mine, upper surface. Scale bar = 2 mm; 13. Leaf of Alternanthera tenella with mine, upper surface. Scale bar = 2 mm.